FEC shelves discussion on new minimum wage for more consultation with states, LGs

The Federal Executive Council on Tuesday stepped down a memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.

This is to allow for more consultations between President Bola Tinubu, state governors, local government authorities and the private sector, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists after the council met at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Idris said the council deferred acting on the memo given that the Federal Government is not the sole stakeholder on the national minimum wage issue.

According to him, the President needs to interact with other wage-paying entities to factor their contributions and circumstances into the executive bill on the matter that will be passed on to the National Assembly for passage into law.

“I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (minimum wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the Federal Government, it is an issue that involves the Federal Government, the state governments, local governments, and the organised private sector and of course, including the organised labour.

“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.

“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, as I said, is not just an issue of the Federal Government,” Idris stated.

He said the President has studied the report and will “consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly.”

The Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage established in January had reviewed the wages to N62,000 from the current N30,000. The committee comprises the government’s team, the organised labour and the organised private sector.

However, the organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress demanded N250,000 living wage.

Tuesday’s decision follows a statement by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, saying that the organised labour had expected the President to reach out to the members of the Tripartite Committee to harmonise the figure.

Ajaero said this is expected given a stalemate at the end of the Tripartite Committee meeting.